Steve Benjamin (USA), winner of the Fireball Worlds at Kinsale in 1977, has been among those sitting in first place overall in IRC during Day 2 of the RORC Caribbean 600 writes W M Nixon. Racing his TP 52 Spookie, Benjamin was showing ahead for quite a respectable interval this afternoon with the likes of Dieter Schoen’s Maxi 72 Momo, Piet Vroon’s Ker 51 Tonnere 4, and Hap Fauth’s 72ft Bella Mente tucked nicely astern on calculated placings.
But with such a convoluted course taking in so many islands both to windward and leeward, predicted final positions aren’t quite so convincing as they are with more straightforward routes such as the Fastnet or the Sydney-Hobart. In fact, there are stages when you might well think the suggested finishing order is a case of having something for everyone in the audience.
Nevertheless although the annual race has only been in being since 2009, we’re beginning to see a cohort of “Old Caribbean 600 Hands” beginning to emerge, and they reckon to see a pattern developing which narrows the final choice to a battle between ten or so boats.
But as of 2200 hrs this Tuesday evening Irish time, we found that Spookie has slipped back to ninth just behind Bella Mente and Momo, with Tonnere still well in touch in 12th, but then a further check some minutes later had Bella Mente leading with Proteus second, Momo third, and Spookie 7th.
As for the Irish contenders, Kieran Jameson and friends on the First 40 Southern Child from Howth Yacht Club were in third in IRC 2 and 18th overall, Bam (Conor Fogerty) is two places behind them overall in 20th and has slipped one place to second in IRC 3, while Adrian Lee’s Cookson 50 Lee Overlay Partners – first overall in 2009 at the finish - lies 25th overall
And somewhere way beyond the blue horizon, on the other side of an island are two, the on-the-water leaders are the two Mod 70s Phaedo 3 (Lloyd Thornburg) and Concise 10 (Med Collier wakefield) – Phaedo has persistently stayed just a couple of miles ahead, and as of 2216 hrs she has just 20 miles to the finish, Concise has 22, and they’re definitely in a different world from the rest of the fleet.
